Dear Reader,
As you may already be aware, the publishing house ‘Chess Evolution’ is print-
ing a series called ‘Th
e Modern Endgame Manual’ which will consist primarily
of eight books and will deal with everything concerning the endgame.

I was surprisingly pleased when the Editor in Chief, GM Arkadij Naiditsch,
asked me to write two of the total eight books. But I was a bit ‘disappointed’
when it was made clear to me that I would have to deal with a quite diffi
cult
subject: Queen vs Pieces Endgames!

But OK, nothing is really diffi
cult nowadays. Th
e modern author has at his dis-
posal powerful databases, tablebases, analysed material, books and, by adding
his knowledge, you will alwys fi
nd what you are looking for!

Th
e endgame is a phase of the game that has been extensively analysed and
formed to concrete conclusions, although in nearly all the books I know of,
very little space is dedicated to the queen vs pieces endgame subject.

I think this is mainly because of space limitations and because it’s a diffi
cult
theme that doesn’t appear too interesting for the readers. But a modern chess
player cannot really choose what he likes or prefers — this has nothing to do
with openings!

Today we have shorter time-controls and there isn’t really enough time to
dig around on the subtleties of each ending. You have to know and to repeat
knowledge; don’t be carried away by the usual myth of the ‘chess talent’. As
I have repeatedly written and proved, ‘talent is the excuse of the failed’.

‘Unfortunately’, the modern chess player is entitled and forced to work more
than his predecessors. Th
e modern chess trainer also needs to prepare more
delicate themes, understand them and then teach them to his students as well.
So, there is plenty of room for everything and for everybody who is thirsty
for knowledge.

Knowledge is the key word, and knowledge is absorbed sub-consciously; it is
impossible to remember everything you study. So, it is highly important to
work with good material and good trainers in order to improve towards the
‘Chess Olym-pus’.

Nowadays the help of the Silicon Monster (chess analysis engines) is quite
valuable, as it can save an author countless hours of analysis and checking.
But still the role of the qualifi
ed trainer remains important; he knows where
the truth is — he knows what to keep and what to throw away...

I do not want to hold a high nose and claim that everything I have written is
perfect and completely sound; I am always aware of the surprise factor and
I just try to write honestly and with responsibility.

As an aut hor, I feel t hat I shou ld especia lly congratu late four impor tant fi
gures
of our chess literature world: Alexander Baburin, Karsten Muller, John Nunn
and Jan Timman. Dr. John Nunn was kind enough to permit me to publish
his analysis of the game Piket-Nunn, Wijk aan Zee 1990 — I truly thank him!

Finally, I would like to thank three readers who each contributed valuable time
and eff
ort to check and correct my work:
– Former FIDE Women World Champion, GM & FST Antoaneta Stefanova.
– Endgame Expert & Author, GM Karsten Müller.
– Lecturer in Computer Science, who has championed advances in the crea-
tion and use of chess endgame tables, Guy Haworth.